Subject: Re: 1/48 A-1E Matchbox/Tamiya Updated
From: "Submissions for ARC" <[email-masked]>
To: "david horn" <[email-masked]>
Date: Mon, 2 Apr 2007 16:47:35 -0700

Hi,
I just wanted to let you know your article went on ARC today.  Thanks again for sending it in.

Steve Bamford
Aircraft Resource Center
http://www.aircraftresourcecenter.com

Live like there is no tomorrow;
Love like you've never been hurt.
Work like you don't need the money.
Dance like nobody's watching.
Sing like nobody's listening.
Live like it's Heaven on Earth.

  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: david horn 
  To: [email-masked] 
  Sent: Sunday, March 18, 2007 9:26 PM
  Subject: 1/48 A-1E Matchbox/Tamiya Updated

  1/48 A-1E Skyraider

  Matchbox/Tamiya 

  by David Horn
  --------------------

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  I have always been a big fan of the wide body Skyraider and in my scale of choice, there is only one choice available in 1/48 and it is from Matchbox. The Matchbox kit has basically toy like features such as moveable flaps, rudder and wing folds and kit detail is lacking. On the other end of the spectrum is the Skyraider from Tamiya which is a real gem however they only offer the single seat version. I am not sure who the first person mated a Matchbox Skyraider with another manufacturer's kit (I think this was done with Monogram/Matchbox kit-bash) but there are a few articles covering both conversions (Tamiya or Monogram kits) and with those in hand and a saw, it was off to kit-bashing at it best.

  Click on images below to see larger images

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  There is a lot of scratch building involved in this kit but for added detail, I purchased some aftermarket update sets. This build I added a cockpit set from Cobra Company, Ejection seats, landing gear doors and some small accessories from C& H aero, Wheel well set from Aires, wheels from True details, Vacuum form canopy from Squadron, KMC Skyraider weapons & pylons set, Cutting edge prop and Engines & Things R-3350.

  The Cobra company cockpit is a great offering however it represents the non ejection seat. I tried installing the Cutting edge "Yankee seats" but they were too wide to fit into the Cobra cockpit. After a desperate, I located a few spare parts from the C&H aero conversion including their "Yankee" Ejection system (seats) and a few other details. I had to scratch build the ejection rockets and to fit them in the cockpit, I needed to cut down the bulkhead behind the pilot seats which I believe is done on the actual aircraft. For the instrument faces, I punched out some instrument dial face decals. One big mystery is what is in the "blue room" and the Cobra set takes care of that mystery. Now to show that area off, I opened the aft canopy and scratch built all the canopy frames and structures. I ruined one Vacu-formed canopy so I am glad Squadron still makes the item but once cut, it was time to tint the aft canopy. First, I dipped the canopy in Future to aide the blue tint which is Tamiya blue clear.

  The wheel wells and landing gear needed some cleaning up so I started of by adding the Aires wheel well set. I was beginning to wonder if this set was made for the Tamiya kit but after grinding the wing and resin set, they finally fit. Material was getting very thin but what a remarkable set. I cleaned up the main gear by adding wire for brake lines and other details but the tail wheel was almost totally rebuilt. I saved just a small section of the lower link and as you can see in the pictures, the Tamiya part is about a solid chunk of plastic. The mod I did also allowed me to rotate the tail wheel in any position I wanted. The main wheel doors needed to be modified by removing the aft gear doors. The A-1e and earlier Skyraiders just had a fwd gear door and the wheel went into a round hole in the wing. Later Skyraiders had fully enclosed main gear doors.

  One area Tamiya lacks is a fully detailed R-3350 radial engine. All they offer is an engine face so I picked up a R-3350 from Engines & Things but detail was still needed. I developed a method of bending plastic rod and made all eighteen exhaust pipes and intake tubes. Next was to add the 36 spark plug wires to finally give the engine a real busy look. I wanted to show the engine so I had to scratch build the engine cowling bu laminating a .010" thk outer skin with a .015" thk inner panel showing the pocked areas. I also thinned out the cowl flaps and added the pockets similar to the cowling doors.

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  Weapons seemed to take a long time to complete, especially when the Skyraider has 15 hard points!

  The first step is to cut the fuselage and I wanted to leave as much Tamiya as I could. Pictures show where I cut but I forgot to include a foot step and had to splice that area later. The only Matchbox parts left in this build is 80% of the fuselage and rudder, I did have to add some A-1E specific details such as the air scoop in the tail and two landing lights, one retractable on the LH wing tip and one on LH gear door (USAF specific). The aircraft I depicted did not have the strange red rotating beacon so that was not added. I did have to add the oil cooler vents located on both sides of the fuselage below the windshield. Matchbox has these but again detail is poor. I filled nearly all the panel lines and re-scribed all the panel lines. Finally I had to remove all the armor plating that Tamiya included since the A-1E did not have this installed. Cutting Edge does make a wing set with the armor removed but I decided to remove it myself.

  Painting the kit I used Xtracrylix paints with Mr. Detailer for the panel line washes and Tamiya weathering set along with chalks to get the colors Tamiya did not offer. Decals are from AeroMaster decals (Air War over Vietnam part III).

  This has been a challenging build to say the least but very rewarding. I have been waiting ten years to do this and I can finally say it is done. I probably did not list everything in the conversion but hopefully it will give you an idea on what is needed to do this kit-bash. 

  The last picture shows the Matchbox kit built OOB for a comparison.

  Click on images below to see larger images

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  Photos and text © by David Horn